Midwest, Northeast, South Regionals Begin Punching Tickets To San Diego For First Brooks XC Championships

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos

Top 10 Individuals From Each Region Advance To Brooks XC Championships In San Diego On Dec. 13

Brooks Northeast

Massachusetts Meet of Champions winner Abigail Hennessey continued her undefeated senior season with a Brooks Northeast XC Championship win at Franklin Park in Boston. 

The future Washington Husky broke away from Virginia Kraus at two miles, putting together a 14 second win in 16:47.3. 

Kraus, a 2024 Foot Locker All-American, took second ahead of New Jersey Meet of Champions winner Leah Starkey by a second. Amelia Avila followed two seconds behind in fourth.

Allison Lee (fifth), Alexis Paterna (sixth), Ana Bondy (seventh), Chase Gilbert (eighth), Molly Domurat (ninth) and Lexie Cole (10th) also advance to San Diego to represent the Northeast team.

Sam Laverdiere narrowly escaped a late push from Nathan Lee to win the boys championship in 14:59.9. Lee trailed Laverdiere for the first two miles before finishing within .1 seconds for second.

Nicholas Mazzeo finished third to Lee by three seconds but easily beat out the Pennsylvania Class 3A state champion Travis Furmanski in fourth by 16 seconds. Mazzeo finished second to Furmanski at the Pennsylvania meet by five seconds.

Sam Leone finished fifth, beating Nike Cross Regional New York runner-up Benjamin Berman by a half a step in sixth. 

Teddy Hojlo (seventh), Michael Fritz (eighth), Tycen LaBelle (ninth) and Charlie Palmore (10th) secured their spots on the Northeast team.

Brooks Midwest

Indiana state champion Calvin Seitz won the boys championship race at Brooks Midwest XC Championships on Saturday in Kenosha, Wisc., punching his ticket to the national championship meet in San Diego on Dec. 13. 

Seitz, who sat out of Nike Cross Regional Midwest, outlasted Lucas Tanner by five seconds in 15 minutes, 11 seconds to claim the individual title. Tanner, who made the NXR Heartland team, finished second by five seconds.

Kamari Ronfelt, the Michigan Meet of Champions winner, battled Wyatt Dann and Alex Roberts to the line for three of the top five spot, finishing third two seconds ahead of Dann (fourth) and Roberts (fifth).

Cadel Ruthven (sixth), Gabriel Voelker (seventh), Lucas Wik (eighth), Jaden Merrick (ninth) and Rocco Culpepper (10th) secured their place on the Midwest team.

Ohio Division 2 state champion Sophia Szolosi broke away from Nike Cross Nationals qualifiers Emma Hoffman and Maddie Gullickson over the final mile to claim the girls title.

Szolosi ran alongside Hoffman, Gullickson and another Ohio state champion Elena Aldrink through the first mile in 5:34 and two mile in 11:07 before ultimately finishing eight seconds ahead of Hoffman in 17:22.85 for the win.

Hoffman, second at Nike Cross Regional Midwest, beat NXR Heartland champion Gullickson by three seconds for second. Gullickson finished third and two seconds ahead of Aldrink in fourth.

Indiana state champion Libby Dowty finished fifth ahead of another pair of Indiana standouts Julia Score and Daphne Weller, sixth and seventh.

Payton Meineke (eighth), Annabel Pollert (ninth) and Emilia Garces (10th) are the final qualifiers for the Midwest girls team.

Brooks South

West Virginia Class AAA state champion Maysen Fletcher completed a second-half comeback of the girls championship race at Brooks South XC Championships, winning the regional title in 17:02.87 at McAlphine Park in Charlotte, N.C.

Fletcher. who finished 11th at Nike Cross Regional Southeast, trailed in sixth after 2.5-kilometers before making up ground in the latter half to beat Madison Muller by three seconds. 

Three members of NXR Southeast team champions Sparta TC TN, Calysta Garmer (third), Carolina Areheart (sixth) and Jazzlyn Garmer (seventh), advanced to their second national championships of the fall. All three will run at Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 6.

Madeline Dorsch (fourth), third at NXR Southeast, Lilly Beshears (fifth), Kaitlyn Estep (eighth), Kasey Dingman (ninth) and Sofi Alexander (10th) make up the rest of the South team going to San Diego.

Florida Class 1A state champion Evan Spreitzer out-sprinted North Carolia Class 4A state champion Kavi Gibson for the boys regional title by a margin of 14:52.13 to 14:52.81.

Texans Noah Strohman, eighth at Nike Cross Regional South, and Ryder Strohman finished third and fourth within a second of each other. Ethan Garza, another Texas standout, finished sixth.

Kentucky Class 3A state champion Paul Van Laningham, third at NXR Southeast, rounded out the top five individuals.

Myles Jermyn (seventh), George Lawson (eighth), Preston Sangely (ninth) and Malachi Burnett (10th) rounded out the rest of the South boys team.